Vanity-case.



W. G. KENDALL.

VANITY CASE. APPLICATION FILED APR-23,1918.

1,299,733., I Patented Apr. 8,1919.

avwanl oz MG. Keladal,

' sheet metal,

-useful Improvements in Vanity-Cases,

WILLIAM G. KENDALL, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 8, E919.

Application filed April 28, 1918. Serial No. 230,291.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM G. KENDALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and 0 which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to vanity cases or similar containers for toilet articles such as pressed powder and rouge tablets or the like, and the primary Ob]t of the present invention is to provide a novel and eflicient means for retaining the articleswithin the case.

It is a further object of the invention to providein a container of the class mentioned means for retaining the powder and rouge tablets in place, spicuous as a retaining means and will, at the same time, enhance the artistlc appearance of the article as a whole, the said retaining means having the appearance of an artistic form of partition wall dividing the interior of the body of the container into separate compartments housing the rouge and powder tablets and the respective pufis.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a retainer of the class mentioned, means for retaining in place the articles disposed therein, which means will serve, as stated above, as a partition wall to divide the body of the container and also as a means for relatively bracing the front and rear walls of the body so that while such containers are ordinarily made from light the one embodying the invention will have its walls so reinforced that they will not otherwise distorted.

The] invention has. as a further object to provide aretaining means for the purpose stated such as will securely hold the-rouge and powder tablets or similar articles within the container and will yet permit of ready removal of the bases or supports for the tablets after the tabletshavebeen consumed and it is desired to place fresh tablets within the container. Thus, not only maya lady making use-of the vanity box, readily replenishing the same Whenever she so'desires,

but also the-filling'o f the boxes in the factory may be accomplished in anexpeditious manner and with little likelihood of injury to the tablets.

-bodying the present invention is which means will be inconbe liable to be crushed in or As above stated, the retaining means emdesigned secondarily to serve as a partition wall dividing the interior of the container into separate compartments in which the rouge and powder tablets or cakes may be respectively housed, and a further feature of the invention .resides in so forming this retaining member that in serving the purpose of a partition wall, it will prevent the powder puffs which are disposed within the compartments', coming in contact with each other so that there is no .likelihood of powder from the rouge puff being deposited on to the face powder puff.

I So far as the fundamental principles of the invention are concerned, th invention contemplates the provisionbetween the articles to be retained, of a normally expanded means which is interposed between the articles and acts against the same to hold the articles firmly against relatively fixed elements which, inthe illustrated embodiment of the invention, are the opposite end walls f0f the body of the container, the said normally expandedmeans being capable of compression'so as. to permit the disengagement and removal of either or both of the articles.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a vanity case embodying the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof, the lid of the case being shown open,

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 3'-3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. lv is-Va vertical'longitudinal sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the retaining member.

In the illustrated embodiment of the in vention. the retaining device constitutes a part of the vanity. case and serves to hold within the case compressed tablets or cakes of rouge or face powder. However, this is to be considered as only one example of the many uses to which the retaining device may be put for it is not essential that the articles to be retained be in the nature of powder tablets, nor is the device limited to use in connection with but two of such articles, for it m1ght be employed in retaining a single article within the case, .or one or sexeral of the retainlng devices might be employed in retaining more than two of the articles in place. It is also to be understood that I am not to be limited to the use of the specific retaining means illustrated in the drawings and to be hereinafter described, inasmuch as normally expanded retaining members of many other forms may be employed for accomplishing the desired results.

In the drawings there is illustrated a vanity case preferably formed of light sheet metal and including a body indicated in general by the numeral 1 and a lid indi-- cated in general by the numeral 2. The lid 2is hinged as at 3 to the'rear Wall of the body 1, which wall is indicated by the numeral 4, the said body further including a front wall 5, arcuate end walls 6, and a bottom 7. Of course, if desired, the case may be ofsome shape other than shown inthe drawings, although it is preferable that the same be of the shape illustrated. As is usual in articles of this class, the lid 2 is provided with a marginal depending flange 8 which is designed to fit down over the upper edges of the walls 4, 5 and 6 of the body and the said walls of the body have.

their upper marginal portions struck in slightly, as indicated by the numeral 9, thus formlng a narrow shoulder 10 Within the body 1. Also, as is usual in such articles, the front wall 5 is, struck out near its upper end to provide a protuberance 11 designed to snap .into a similarly formed socket 12 in the forward side of the depending flange 8 of the lid 2, for the purpose of holding the lid in closed position and, in the present instance, the protuberance 11 is located above the shoulder 10., fora purpose which will be presently explained.

As before stated, the articles to be held within the case constitute in the present instance, a rouge tablet indicated for example, by the numeral 13, and a face powder tablet 14, and these tablets are compressed and housed within shallow hollow bases 15 each of which is provided with an annular upstanding wall 16 surrounding the respective tablet 13 or 14 as the case may be. While a powder tablet can best be maintained in whole condition by the use of a shallow hollow base such as above referred to, and it is preferable to employ such'a base where the retaming means of the present invention is to be made use of,.nevertheless, the retaining means will act equally as well with such tablets when the same are merely secured upon more or less snugly fit against the inner faces of the end walls 6 of the said body, the body being of such length" as to provide suflicient space between the adjacent or inner sides of the tablets to accommodate the retaining member as will be presently explained.

The retaining member embodying the present invention is indicated in general by the reference numeral 17 and the same is preferably formed from a strip of resilient sheet metal bent to substantially sigmoidal form, the drawings. Being of the form; mentioned, the retaining member includes an intermediate portion 18, bowed portions 19 10- as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 5 of '18 and inwardly curved terminals 20 which lie at opposite sides of the said intermediate portion 18 and which, in the normal condition of the said retaining member, are spaced from the said intermediate portion 18, due to the resiliency of the bowed portions 19. By reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 4 of the drawings, device just described is to be positioned be- ,tween the tablets 13 and 14 with its terminal portions 20 bearing against the adjacent sides of the powder tablets or their container members or bases 15, the resiliency of the bowed portions 19 serving to cause the terminal portions 20 to the tablets in the direction end walls 6 of the case, was to securely hold the tablets in place It will be apparent that because of the inherent resiliency of the retaining member, it may be laterally compressed when removing the tablets or placing new tablets in position within the case. By reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings, it will be observed that the height of the retaining member is such that when the member is properly assembled within the body of the case, the upper {edge of one of its bowed portions 19 will rest beneath the shoulder 10 at the front of the said body of the case and-the upper edge of its other bowed portion 19 willengage beneath the hinge lugs forming a part of the hinge 3, the said retaining member being in this manner securely held within the body of the case, although adapted to be removed upon slightly compressing the'same and liftlng out the tablets. In protuberance 11 from'the socket 12 in the flange 8 of the lid 2 when it is desired to swing the lid to open position, it is necessary to exert a slight inward pressure against the upper portion of the front wall of the box so as to slightly spring this portion of the said wall in an inward direction and while the retaining member extends between the front and-rear walls of the body and relatively braces these walls, nevertheless, the stated inward springing of the upper portlon of the front wall 1s not prevented beof the respective exert pressure against order to disengage the r cause of the fact thatthe retaining member is'of such height as to stop short of the protuberance 11.

It will be evident, as

In certain of the claims which are to follow I will refer to a fixed element located within the container. As before stated, the device of the present invention is capable of employment in securing in place a single one of the articles provided it is disposed between the said article and the relatively fixed element, and inasmuch as either of the articles illustrated in thedrawings may be considered as a fixed element located within the container, one'of said articles might be replaced by a wall of the container.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is: I

1. The combination with an article container and articles disposed therein, of a rebefore stated and particularly by reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 4 of the drawings,

taining member disposed between the arti-' cles and comprising a resilient body of sigmoidal form having terminal portions bearing, through the resiliency of the respective body portions, against'the said articles in a direction to bind the same against the respective end walls ofthe container.

2. The combination with an article container and articles disposed therein, the opposite walls of the container being provided interiorly with projections, of a retaining member disposed between the said articles and comprising a resilient body of sigmoidal form. having the upper edges of its bights engaging beneath the projections upon the walls of the container and having its terminal portions bearing, through the resiliency of the respective body portions, against the said articles in a direction to bind the same against the respective end walls of the container.

3. A device for the purpose stated comprising a resilient member of sigmOidal form normally expanded with its terminal portions spaced from. its intermediate portion whereby pressure exerted inwardly against the said terminal portions will be resisted by the resiliency of the said member. I

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM G. KENDALL. 

